Foundations of Amateur Radio

Foundations of Amateur Radio

Author: Onno (VK6FLAB) Language: English Episodes: 579
For anyone curious about the crackle of a distant voice emerging from the static or the thrill of making a contact across the globe using nothing but radio waves, Foundations of Amateur Radio offers a friendly, steady guide. Hosted by Onno (VK6FLAB) from Australia, this long-running podcast acts as a companion for newcomers navigating the initial, often overwhelming, steps into this vast hobby. Each episode deliberately unpacks a single facet of amateur radio, breaking down technical concepts, equipment, and operating practices into digestible pieces. You'll hear practical advice on how to get started, find your place within the global community, and discover which of the hobby's countless avenues-from building antennas to satellite communication or emergency service-might spark your passion. It’s not about dry theory; it’s about demystifying the process and sharing the genuine rewards that keep enthusiasts engaged for a lifetime. Having evolved from its earlier incarnation in 2011, this podcast builds from the ground up, week by week, creating a solid resource that grows with you. Tune in for a down-to-earth conversation that makes the airwaves feel a little more accessible and a lot more inviting.
Episodes
Amateur Radio has literally changed my world view [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:14
Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I went for a walk, I know, shock-horror, outside, daylight, nature, the whole thing, in a local national park, for the first time in too many years. Almost immediately I noticed…
How small is small? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:08
Foundations of Amateur Radio I've owned a Yaesu FT-857d radio since becoming an amateur and at the time I was absolutely blown away by how much radio fits inside the box. It's smaller than most of the commercial radios I…
Bald Yak 12, getting raw data from a remote receiver [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:13
Foundations of Amateur Radio Over the past nine months or so I've been working on a project that I've called Bald Yak. If you're unfamiliar, the Bald Yak project aims to create a modular, bidirectional and distributed si…
Using an SDR as measuring equipment [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:14
Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I stumbled on a random post by Gary N8DMT which caused me to view the world in a different way. The post outlined combining a PlutoSDR and an application called SATSAGEN to meas…
Listening to local RF via a web browser [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:42
Foundations of Amateur Radio Recently I discussed the idea of listening to the radio spectrum across the internet for the purposes of getting signal into your shack when radios, or in my case, antennas are causing you ch…
Decoding distant signals over the web? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:49
Foundations of Amateur Radio One of the many challenges associated with being a radio amateur is actually being able to listen to weak signals. If you're like me and more than half the planet, you live in an urban area,…
What can we activate today? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:28
Foundations of Amateur Radio Every single radio amateur has come to this hobby with an itch to scratch. Time and again I've seen amateurs around me pursue that particular purpose, only to come out the other end with a lo…
Using Amateur Bands for other purposes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:59
Foundations of Amateur Radio Recently I came across a series of strident posts about the injustice associated with a non-amateur service using the 70cm band. Complete with links to discussions, spectrum plots, angst and…
There's promotion .. and then there's Amateur Radio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:33
Foundations of Amateur Radio In the community of radio amateurs scattered around the planet we have a habit of getting together with others to have fun in whatever shape that takes. The obvious ones are HAMfests, car boo…
Decoding a signal ... [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:22
Foundations of Amateur Radio Recently I was given some radio data captured on the 40m band. Using a piece of software called "Universal Radio Hacker", I attempted to decode it. At the time I thought that this might be Mo…